Overview

• The offer values Merus at roughly a 41% premium to its prior closing price, according to Investor's Business Daily.
• Merus shares jumped about 37%–38% in premarket trading to around $95, while Genmab fell nearly 3%.
• Merus’s lead asset, petosemtamab, is designed to block two cancer drivers and is furthest along in head-and-neck cancer.
• Petosemtamab is also being tested in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
• William Blair’s Matt Phipps estimated $3 billion to $4 billion in peak head-and-neck sales for petosemtamab and described the deal as an opportunistic addition to programs that could drive Genmab’s revenue growth into the 2030s.